Oxford’s Best Sunday Roasts

Ahh, the good old Sunday lunch. Whatever your choice of meat or alternative, nothing beats that combination of crispy roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, plus loads of veg and lashings of proper gravy.

Just like with our roundup of Oxford’s Best Takeout Curry, we threw this one out to all our social media followers, to bring you our, and your, favourite spots for a Sunday Roast.

Bitten Top Picks

The Chester (in main image above), The White Hart in Wytham and Magdalen Arms top our list, with exceptionally good offerings. The Chester is particularly good as a general rule for vegetarians, but they don’t take bookings so you’ll need to queue or chance it for a table. The White Hart has parking onsite and the benefit of being a picture pretty old pub, and Maggie Arms caters brilliantly for big sharing dishes like roast leg of lamb (which is amazeballs).

The Fishes in Hinksey and The Bear & Ragged Staff in Cumnor are also excellent choices, both with parking and relatively large dining spaces – The Fishes boasts a rather large garden too, perfect for the sunnier days.

Red Lion Gloucester Green is a surprising choice, especially given that it’s a sister pub to The Trout, which is awful. The food here has been consistently good when we’ve visited, plus it’s centrally based with ample seating.

Beyond the ring road, but well worth a drive – The Pointer in Brill, which I reviewed recently, serve up beautiful food in an equally beautiful setting. There isn’t a carpark per say but you can park on the street, plus they have a small garden at the rear and you can wander over to Brill Windmill for some fresh air and Kodak moments.

The Mole Inn in Toot Baldon is another ‘pretty as a picture’ pub, in lovely gardens, that offers a cosy setting and carpark as well as excellent food. The Thatch in Thame may be a bit further out, but the meaty main courses here will entirely earn your travel. Not cheap, with main courses reaching up to around the £26 mark, but worth it.

The Abingdon Arms in Beckley ends my list off nicely, with a great selection of food, all cooked perfectly, and a lovely little garden at the rear with the added bonus of a secret fairy door for kids to hunt for. The countryside pub also offers parking and that good old traditional pubby vibe, but at gastropub levels.